Foundation Program

The Foundation Program provides a unified and dynamic experience designed to build a durable framework for all areas of study in Visual Arts. This program is founded upon intensive lecture, studio, and lab investigation of techniques, methods, and concepts.

The curriculum broadens and expands a student’s formal creative design vocabulary, while introducing new ways of thinking about images, time, space, and audience. This program encourages students to think analytically and to use their imagination to develop an awareness of the role of artists in our culture.

Students with a major in Visual Arts and a studio concentration (Animation/Interactive Media, Cinematic Arts, Graphic Design, Photography, Print Media) are required to take the following courses:

Art History and Museum Studies Concentration

The history of art is the history of the world in visual terms. These terms have been expanded dramatically in the 20th century by developments in photography, graphic design, cinematic arts, performance art, and digital art. Each of these modes of production has had a profound impact on more conventional art forms and, simultaneously, has fostered an ever-changing body of theory. The art history and museum studies course offerings are designed to enable students to explore these new developments and better understand their relationship with art of the past. Toward that end, works of art and pertinent theories are discussed in a broad context, to include social, political and economic motivations for an artist’s choice of medium, as well as the formal, stylistic and aesthetic elements of his or her work. Museum and gallery offerings in Baltimore; Washington, D.C. and New York City are used to amplify points made in classes. The university’s own collection of photographs, films and videos also provides students with a unique source of reference material.

Students concentrating in Art History and Museum Studies are strongly encouraged to take more than one studio course. Foreign language profieciency at the 202 level is required. For those who intend to go to graduate school, a second language is recommended. Students work closely with their advisors in developing individualized programs.

For B.A. students

with a concentration in Art History and Museum Studies, the following courses are required:

• ART 215 - Introduction to Art and Media Studies (3.00)
• ART 216 - Studies in Visual Culture (Prehistory through the 1750s) (3.00)
• ART 220 - Art History I (3.00) (Prehistory through Medieval)
• ART 221 - Art History II (3.00) (Renaissance through Modern)
• ART 321 - From the Enlightenment to the Birth of Modernism (1750-1880) (3.00)
• ART 323 - Modernism (1880-1960) (3.00)
• ART 328 - Postmodernism (1960 - present) (3.00)
• ART 329 - Topics in Art History and Visual Culture (3.00)